Thanks everyone!
pelicanhead-I'm not sure exactly which ones you're looking at: the short yellowish green spikey plants in the bottom center of the photo are yucca 'Colorguard'. The short green spikey/grassy ones bordering the very front of bed on the right are daylily 'Stella D'oro'. The taller spikey green ones in the middle of the bed on the right are young windmill palms, you just can't see the trunk- I planted them last summer and they only have about 18" of trunk so far. All are really easy to find at most garden centers!

your plantings are fantastic and very healthy!
do you maintain it alone or with some help? looks like a lot of work!
can you say approx how much time it takes ev week in upkeep?
and what about all those tropicals in winter? do you dig anything up?

grabmebymyhandle: yup that's a potted ensete 'Maurelii' on my deck- I think the purpleish hue might partially be the lighting, however all my maureliis were much darker this year- they all got a ton of water and were partially shaded from the hot afternoon sun, which could explain it.

river_city: I'm in Newport News- about 45 mins west of VA beach. I'm right on the 7b/8a line. Haven't really ventured into edibles a whole lot- I have first year musa 'ice cream' and 'gran nain' in the ground. The ice cream was a single 3' trunk at planting in May, and is about 15' with many pups now. The gran nain was a single 1' trunk in May, at 8' single trunk now with several very tiny pups around the base. I don't forsee either fruiting this year- but I'll be heavily protecting the pseudostems this winter, so hopefully some fruit next year! Do you have any experiences with either of these bananas in 7b?

petrushka: Thanks! I installed it and maintain it by myself to save $- I planted most of this summer 2012. It was a lot of work initially digging out the grass for the planting beds and getting all the plants in the ground. The dirt in my yard ended up being pretty decent- mostly loose, sandy loam- so I got really lucky with that. Maintaining it isn't too bad, but I enjoy it haha. I probably spend an average of 30 mins-1hr a day working in the yard. I tried a new fertilizer this year that I read about on this forum- Milorganite. It is a high nitrogen lawn fertilizer and I had AWESOME results with it. My elephant ears got way bigger than they ever have, so did my cannas (without sacrificing blooms). Be careful if you have dogs though, mine always try to eat it- It isn't toxic but will definitely make them vomit. When we are short on rain it does take me a while to water, but soaker hoses really help out with that. About 75% of the plants stay in the ground over the winter with just a few inches to a foot of extra mulch on top- incl all the cannas, most of the elephant ears, and about half of the bananas. Both bird of paradises and the other true tropicals ("houseplants") live in my spare bedroom over the winter which has 1 west facing window. I keep them on the dry side- they don't really grow over the winter and some look rough come spring but they bounce back quickly. A few are stored dormant/partially dormant either bare root or potted in the garage with 1 east facing window and stays about 45-50 degrees, incl hibiscus, some bananas (maurelii, zebrina, siam ruby), and some elephant ears (black magic, borneo giant, odora). If you have a question about overwintering a specific variety let me know and I can share what has worked for me! I know everyone has different methods.

discovered Milorganite here years ago, great organic fert. It's all I use on the lawn too. It's actually low in N but high IRON, 6-2-0, but loaded with all sorts of great beneficial microbes and stuff B-)